7" woofer for 2 way sealed monitor

[audiothings]

Philip Newell and team compared 36 nearfield monitors to get to the bottom (no pun intended) of why the NS10M is so popular with mix engineers. I think the key is in the waterfall plot, which shows the NS10Ms to have the tightest low end response, which, IMHO is directly attributable to its sealed design.

The tweeters will be Cabasse DOM 40s, kindly donated to me by a member. The last time I set out to find the right use for them, I got confused and distracted... but this time I know what I want, and its a small sealed two way monitor to carry around to different studios and rooms where I do my work.

Cost is a key factor here, I can allocate about $400, amidst current expenses. I would like to use the "MiniDSP in a Box" as the crossover and room response optimizer (I am squeezed into all kinds of spaces over the course of my work). I would like to use the Sure 4 x 100W amplifier board to power the speakers.

Can anyone suggest a woofer to go with this combination. I believe the Sure amplifier delivers about 75 watts @ 4 ohms and 30 watts @ 8 ohms... I found the Scanspeak Discovery 18W/4434G... response looks good to me, 4 ohms rating should make it a good match for the Sure amp (?), and it fits my budget. However, the relatively low Qts suggests that it might not be good in a sealed box, no?

The last time I asked a similar question, the Usher 8945A came up for consideration... It has a similarly low Qts, and its 8 ohms rating will not make it a good match with the paltry 30 watts put out by the Sure... correct?

Once again, the question is... which 7" woofer to be used in a small sealed monitor driven by a Sure chip amp...

Thanks,

[pheonix358]

Morel MW168

[audiothings]

thank you pheonix. that looks nice, with a higher Qts and flat frequency response... a bit over my budget, but I suppose I can go this far... but given that its rated @ 8 ohms/86 dB sensitivity, will the 30 watts from the Sure amp be enough to drive it? If I'll need a different amp to drive these, things will definitely go above my budget.

[audiothings]

Neither the Scan-speak nor the Morel is looking good in WinISD... The Exodus Ex-Anarchy though has the exact response I was looking for... -3 dB @ 80 Hz and -10 dB @ 40 Hz. However, the <85 dB sensitivity is going to make it pretty useless with the 30 watt Sure amplifier... correct?

[audiothings]

I seem to be talking to myself , but after a little more research, the Morel MW166-4 ohm is on top of my list. In a .65 cu.ft. box it models -3 dB down @ 55 Hz... Its a bit over my budget, but out of respect for the person who gave me the tweeters I will not resort to penny pinching. Anyone care to warn me about anything I might be missing before I make the plunge?

[Lusk]

The parameters are related so you won’t find a 7” woofer that will go low without efficiency going down that’s suited for sealed enclosure. You could add multiple woofers per side to get more gain but then things start to get expensive. If you are on a budget you would be better to go ported for a 2way.

[keyser]

There are many good choices out there. You should mainly look for a smooth frequency response without resonances first. When you've found a couple, put them in a computer program like winISD and you'll know how deep and loud they'll go in a box size of your liking. A final check should be if distortion isn't unreasonably high. You might be able to find measurement reports online from the famous German DIY magazines Hobby Hifi or Klang + Ton. Also look at websites as Zaphaudio and Audio Heuristics.

[audiothings]

Originally Posted by Lusk

The parameters are related so you won’t find a 7” woofer that will go low without efficiency going down that’s suited for sealed enclosure. You could add multiple woofers per side to get more gain but then things start to get expensive. If you are on a budget you would be better to go ported for a 2way.

Thank you Lusk. Just to be clear, 70 watts is not going to be enough to power the morel woofer in a .65 cf enclosure... correct? What will be enough, then?

WinISD seems to suggest that 30 watts can generate 95 dB SPL @ 2 meters... What does this translate to, in the real world?

[jerome69]

THE ART OF SOUND PERFECTION BY SEAS - H1217-08 CA18RLY

[sreten]

Hi,

FWIW for farfield listening a "tight" low end sealed response is not the best.
For nearfield it might be. For far field room integration is far more important.
Vented has low frequency efficiency and maximum SPL advantages.

FWIW the NS10 response looks pretty awful for far field hifi use.
Though it is similar to many cheap speakers that have no BSC.

They are tools to achieve a well-balanced mix. It is notable how many of
the people who use them in studios do not use them for home listening.

rgds, sreten.

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